 |  |  | | | Ann Hui's Eighteen Springs is a rather gentle film. It's easy to understand, comfortable to sit through, punctuated with frequent climaxes and comes with a faint literary sense. Eileen Chang's novels can be read in many different ways; so are films, which should be independent from the original. Such criticism as "the film is not as good as the original because the book says so much more" is unfair. The faults of Eighteen Springs are its rush and its roughness and not its unfaithfulness to the original. Everyone considers him/herself the most acute of Chang fan, but, please, just don't limit fans to only one kind. | | LOG IN TO COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW! |
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| | | | | No longer awkward like Love in the Falling City or Stanley Kwan's Red Rose, White Rose, Ann Hui has done her job. Unless one admits that it is just "inspired by the work of Eileen Chang", the author's words are not easy to translate into film. The film is clever in simplifying things, getting rid of complexities that images cannot capture. Then, without any expectations, one will be surprised. | | LOG IN TO COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW! |
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| | | | | The cinematic version of Eighteen Springs has not been intimidated by the fame of the original. It is brave enough to work through seemingly insignificant changes to project onto screen real-life characters, leaving an impression with the audience that's even stronger than the novel. Obviously the spirit of the film is very different from that of the book, but that doesn't mean that the novel has been mistreated. The scriptwriter puts himself into the story, creating new chemistry. This is certainly a huge improvement over the blind transcription of words in Red Rose, White Rose. | | LOG IN TO COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW! |
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| | | | | The introspective world of Eileen Chang often becomes superficial after being translated into images. The many previous efforts are the best illustrations and this outing is no exception. For a novel with such richness in detail, the film is reduced to laying out the plot, leaving no room for the book's fine observations of human interactions. The approach is good for telling a grounded love story, but then, if the author doesn't go into considerations, why Eileen Chang? | | LOG IN TO COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW! |
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| | | | | Tackling once again Eileen Chang's novel, Ann Hui is more confident this time out and the result is much better than Love in the Fallen City. The first third of the film is refined and delicate in its depiction of love, the middle part drags a bit and the third act goes by quickly due to the many plot omissions. There are problems with pacing, but individual scenes are skilfully handled. Wu Chien-lien's performance is outstanding, especially the smiles that try so hard to cover up her sadness. The filmmakers gain some and lose some by concentrating on life and love while deliberately avoiding going too deep into the historical background. They gain in building up characters but lose in losing scale. The film scores point with a uniformed visual style and rich details. | | LOG IN TO COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW! |
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| | | | | Thirteen years after Love in a Fallen City, Ann Hui directs another adaptation of a Eileen Chang novel, this time with a layback elegance devoid of concern for social relevance and loyalty to the original material which has drastically restricted the former film. It may look like a holiday film for a director of her stature but it is by no means a lesser film and should not be treated as such. Hong Kong Film Critics Society Best Actress (Wu Chien-lien) and Hong Kong Film Awards Best Supporting Actress (Anita Mui). | | LOG IN TO COMMENT ON THIS REVIEW! |
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